OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York -- Some of the largest retailers in the United States and United Kingdom are not keeping pace at adapting their store operations to changing consumer buying habits.  

Washington, D.C. -- Los Angeles, New York and Chicago top the list of the cities with the highest organized retail crime activity, with Miami and Atanta rounding out the top five, according to a study by the National Retail Federation.

The NRF’s ninth annual Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Survey found that while organized crime has inched down slightly, it remains widespread. Over 90% (93.5%) of retailers said they had been a victim of organized retail crime during the past year, down from 96% the prior year.

Toano, Va. -- Lumber Liquidators, the largest specialty retailer of hardwood flooring in North America, announced the appointment of Sandra C. Whitehouse as senior VP chief human resources officer, effective later this month.

Whitehouse most recently served as chief human resources officer for Earthbound Farm. Previously, she led the human resources department at Orchard Supply Hardware.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. on Thursday took the wraps off its highly anticipated new home department. More than 500 stores received a complete home department revamp, with updated flooring, accent lighting, custom fixturing and a widened pathway.

The new department is made up of a collection of in-store shops for popular designers, including Michael Graves Design, MarthaHome, Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler, and Design by Conran. Each shop-has its own distinct look with a size range of about 300 to about 800 sq. ft.

New York -- Amazon has launched an online shopping site in India, but, in line with the nation’s rules, it will only be able to service other retailers.

The e-commerce giant has gone live with an e-commerce marketplace where local retailers can list books and DVDs under Amazon’s banner and use its delivery services to get them to buyers, according to The Financial Times. Amazon will start selling mobile phones and cameras within weeks.

Boulder, Col. -- QuikTrip is the nation’s most popular convenience store, according to a new study by Market Force Information. QuikTrip was voted the most popular c-store chain among the more than 7,600 study participants, followed by Wawa, RaceTrac, Speedway and Arco/ampm.

San Jose, Calif. -- The majority (61%) of global consumers are open to shopping at a ‘self service’ fully automated store with vending machines and kiosk stations offering virtual customer service, according to a new survey by Cisco.

Corpus Christie, Texas -- Susser Holdings Corporation announced that its Striples LLL brand has Sid Keswani as senior VP store operations. Keswani brings to Stripes more than 18 years of retail operations experience with Target, most recently as senior VP for the Southeast region of the United States.

Stripes announced that company veteran Richard Sebastian has taken on the role of senior VP of facilities, construction and will be responsible for the company's maintenance, new store and capital expenditure programs.